Jimi Hendrix’ simply doesn’t seem to wane, even though the genial guitar hero himself died in London in 1970 at 27 years of age. There’s still so much interest in Hendrix’ music that he continues to rank among the top ten of best-earning dead celebrities in Forbes magazine.

The Fender Stratocaster was the master’s favourite instrument, so it’s not really surprising that the man has been honoured with a signature model by Fender last year. This guitar is now also available in Finland.

In 1980 a small, semiofficial run of Hendrix Strats was made, sporting a white body and a left-handed neck with a large headstock. Fender’s Custom Shop came out with 100 Monterey Stratocasters, which where close copies of the guitar instrument played and burned at the 1967 festival. It was a right-handed Stratocaster with a small headstock and a hand-painted body, set up for left-handed playing. Along with the guitar the Monterey Set also included a flight case and a leather gig bag. In the same year (1997) Fender USA started to produce the Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Strat. The Voodoo Strat was in fact a a left-handed (!) copy of Hendrix’ (right-handed) Woodstock Stratocaster, with the headstock decals turned into mirror images, so that you would look (a bit) like Hendrix, whenever you stepped in front of a mirror. 😀

The right-handed alder body is finished either in black or in white, while the neck is a large headstock-carrying, left-handed, all-maple affair.

The headstock carries the so-called transition logo from the mid-Sixties, which was much larger than the Fifties’ spaghetti logo, but still gold coloured. By the end of the Sixties the logo was changed to black and the model name was written in large, bold lettering – that would be called the the CBS logo.

Modern improvements on the Hendrix Strat include truss rod access from the headstock side, as well as a flatter, more bend-friendly fretboard radius of 9.5 inches.

The headstock’s flip side displays Hendrix’ signature, and a very decent set of Kluson copies.

The neck joint has been kept very traditional, but for the Authentic Hendrix-logo on the neck plate.

The most important differences between the Hendrix model and a bog standard Strat can be found in the pickup department:

The Mexican signature guitar comes equipped with a pukka set of American Vintage ’65 Gray-Bottom Fender-pickups, which have been installed into this guitar, as if this were a left-handed model turned over. Both the neck and middle pickup have been flipped over by 180 degrees, while the bridge pickup has been flipped over first, before being installed at a reverse angle. Usually the bridge pickup is placed so that its bass side is closer to the neck with the treble side being closer to the bridge. On the Hendrix Strat the bridge pickup’s bass side is closer to the bridge and the treble side closer to the neck.

This reverse installation means that the magnet stagger is ”wrong”, changing slightly the balance between the strings in terms of output. Furthermore, the bridge pickup will give you a slightly changed range of overtones, due to its reverse angle.

We’ll find out in the listening test, whether these changes really make any discernible difference.

The controls follow the vintage recipe – master volume, neck tone, middle tone – while the pickup selector on the Hendrix model is a modern five-way unit.

The American Vintage ’65 pickup set is true to the original specs and does not feature a reverse-wound/reverse-polarity middle pickup for hum-cancelling in positions two and four, like many updated Strats!

Fender Strats are well-known for their excellent ergonomic properties and the Hendrix signature model stays true to this heritage.

Our review instrument was of comfortable moderate weight. The neck’s mid-Sixties C-profile feels great, thanks to not being overly chunky.

The guitar arrived strung with a set of 010s and tuned to E-flat, but the setup wasn’t quite spot-on. The vibrato bridge was tipped a little too steeply, and the intonation was a bit off on the bass strings. But it only took me a couple of minutes (and the correct pair of screwdrivers) to get this Strat shipshape. The result was a great-playing and great-sounding guitar (string height at 12th fret: bottom-E: 2.2 mm/high-e: 1.7 mm).

The flatter-than-vintage fretboard radius really helps to make the Hendrix Strat a very bend-friendly guitar, while also minimising the possibility of fret choke during large-interval bends.

I must admit that I’m not quite sure, whether I really hear much of a difference in the amplified sound of the reversed pickups, though.

Jimi’s guitar tech and effects guru, Roger Mayer, has often stated that Hendrix was satisfied with the sound of his (right-handed) Strats right off the peg. According to Mayer, the only ”customisation” the pair ever did on newly bought guitars, was to take off the neck and remove all possible finish residue inside the neck pockets to improve the stability of the neck joints. Hendrix’ effects, on the other hand, were a regular target for fine-adjustment and electronic customisation.

Anyway, the new Fender Jimi Hendrix signature guitar sounds just like a great Strat should. Here’s a clean clip first:

Next I recorded a demo track with a more Hendrix-like arrangement. The signal path was: Hendrix Stratocaster –> Morley M2 Wah/Volume –> Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff Pi –> Blackstar HT-1R. The Uni-Vibe style sound at the end of the track was achieved with a phaser plug-in during mixdown:

Hendrix’ Live Sound

Even though Jimi Hendrix was known for his avant-garde use of effects in the studio – buoyed by the creativity of his sound engineer Eddie Kramer – his signal chain on stage was surprisingly straightforward. Here’s a short and basic rundown of Hendrix’ live rig.

1. Marshall Model 1959 ”Plexi” stackJimi Hendrix used what we now call a vintage-type, non-master volume amplifier stack, which wasn’t especially high-gain by today’s standards. Usually Hendrix had two 100 Watt Marshall-stacks running in parallel, which meant things got very loud. His Strats would cause his amp to break up, but the type of distortion was closer to what we’d now call a 60s Blues sound than to 70s Metal, and far removed from the high-gain saturation of our time.

I simulated this type of amp response by turning my Blackstar HT-1R’s gain control up to get the clean channel to overdrive.

In my view, the fuzz pedal is the most important ingredient in Jimi’s sound, because it adds a lot of oomph, creamy compression, and aggression to proceedings.

A British importer of musical equipment, a man called Ivor Arbiter, came up with the Fuzz Face in 1966, because he wanted to have a fuzz pedal in his product range. He came up with a chunky package by having the Fuzz Face circuit built into the base of a 60s microphone stand. The round enclosure, coupled with the unit’s two controls and single footswitch, looked like a smiley face, which is where the pedal got its name from.

Fuzz Faces are built by the Jim Dunlop company these days. There are also cheap alternatives available, from companies such as Mooer or Rowin. I’m using an Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff Pi for the demo tracks:

Hendrix generally used his Vox Wah in front of his Fuzz Face, but keeping it behind the fuzz will also result in some cool tones. Great wah-pedals can also be head from Boss, Mission Engineering or Jim Dunlop.

Roger Mayer’s Octavia-pedal was sometimes used as an additional ingredient in Jimi’s live sound. This strange-sounding effect combines distortion with an artificial upper octave and some slight ring-modulation. Hendrix also used a Uni-Vibe effect, which was one of the first pedals that tried to create a Leslie-like sound in a compact format.

Korg has introduced the NuVibe, which is a pukka re-imagination of the original Uni-Vibe-pedal. Voodoo Lab’s Micro Vibe is a high-quality proposition at a fair price.

You can also simulate Uni-Vibe-style tones by using a suitable phaser. The Boss PH-3 is a modern and versatile phaser. If you want something even more affordable, you could check out Mooer’s range of effects.

This clip uses a combination of two phaser plug-ins in my audio sequencer:

If you want to go all the way to ”become Hendrix”, you will need to buy a left-handed Stratocaster and turn it into a right-handed instrument. The result will be authentic, but also much less comfortable than a regular Strat, because the controls are all in the wrong place.

Fender’s new Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster will give you the (very slight) difference a reversed headstock brings to the playing feel, as well as the (very slight) tonal differences of the reversed pickups, while keeping all of the Stratocaster’s great ergonomics intact.

Fender’s Hendrix model is a fine Strat, which you can use for all types of music. Still, it’s the ”Hendrix-thing” this guitar does the best!

If I could only have the maestro’s long fingers and musical imagination…

The new Vox AC10C1 combo amp nicely bridges the gap between the Custom Series’ AC4C1 four-watter and the 15-watt AC15C1.

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The Vox AC10C1 (street price in Finland approx. 520 €) isn’t a copy or reissue of any of the AC10 versions from the 1950s or 60s, but rather a modern reinterpretation of the company’s Top Boost-theme in a more compact guise, and made in China, just like the rest of the Custom Series.

This being so, the new AC10C1 amp does away with the old version’s vibrato effect, adding instead such welcome modern features as a quality digital reverb, and separate Gain and (Master) Volume controls.

Vox’ new combo looks like a smaller version of their legendary AC30 combo, which isn’t a coincidence, I’m sure. It sports lots of black vinyl, white piping, a golden metal rail, and the famous maroon front cloth with the diamond pattern.

The AC10C1 only weighs 12 kilos, which means it’s very easy to carry by its single top handle.

As we are looking at a production line, Chinese valve amp, it would be totally unrealistic to expect hand soldered point-to-point wiring inside this combo. The AC10C1’s electronic components – tubes and all – are mounted on three PCBs. You can have a good looks at this combo’s innards in this picture.

The little Vox’ two EL84 main amplifier valves have been placed just beneath the ventilation grille on the top (next to the handle). The preamp valves – a pair of 12AX7s – get their ventilation via a small slot at the bottom end of the cabinet’s back wall.

The control panel sports the classic Vox chicken head knobs.

In addition to Gain and Volume, you will find a two-band EQ section, and the reverb control.

In practical terms, the Vox AC10C1 is a closed-back combo, despite the small opening for preamp tube ventilation.

A ten-inch Celestion VX10 has been chosen as the combo’s sole speaker.

In the EU the new combo is sold with an Eco-feature. When the Eco-switch is set to ”on”, the AC10C1 will power off automatically if the amp isn’t played for two hours.

The AC10C1 can be connected to an external speaker cabinet, as long as the load is kept to 16 Ohms.

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Let me say something about the Vox AC10C1’s volume first:

This little amp is quite the belter for a combo rated at only 10 Watts! Yes, it does have a master volume control, but I still wouldn’t recommend using this Vox as a living-room amp in an apartment block. The Volume control really has to be set to 10 o’clock, or higher, to make this baby come to life.

The basic character of this Vox combo is rather bright and bitey – I had to take the Treble knob down to below 10 o’clock to find the sounds that I like.

This AC10C1 doesn’t have oodles of clean headroom, still there are some very nice clean tones to be had in the first third of the Gain control’s range, when you use Fender-type single coil pickups (Fender Stratocaster; amp gain at 10 o’clock):

Many valve amp snobs will view a digital reverb circuit as a big no-no, but in my view, the AC10C1’s reverb is one of the very best I’ve ever heard in an amp in this price range. The reverb is a digital version of a spring tank, and has a charming sense of depth. At higher settings you can even get some ”spring splash” by attacking the strings with gusto:

Due to its higher output a P-90-type pickup will require you to adjust the volume knob(s) on the guitar, if you want to achieve genuinely clean sounds. Here’s a clip of an Epiphone Casino (with Göldo P-90s), with the guitar’s volumes turned about halfway down (amp gain at 9 o’clock):

Humbuckers, too, mean you will have to turn the guitar down a bit for clean sounds, otherwise the AC10C1 will start adding some of that famous Top Boost grit. The first clip uses a Hamer USA Studio Custom with its volume controls turned down to 5 (amp gain at 9 o’clock):

You could sum up the AC10C1’s distorted sounds with one word – classic! This isn’t a high gain combo by no stretch of the imagination. This Vox feels most at home with Pop-, Blues-, and Rock-sounds of the Sixties and Seventies (and their modern descendants). If you want a piece of that classic Vox Top Boost tone (think Beatles, Queen, U2), the AC10C1 has it in spades at manageable volume levels.

In my opinion, the Vox AC10C1 is just the ticket if you’re after genuine Vox tones in a compact, easy-to-handle package.

Clean headroom isn’t to be had in abundance, but luckily this Vox combo reacts extremely well to volume changes on the guitar. The sound cleans up nicely, while the amp retains its full vigour and liveliness.

The Vox AC10C1 is loud enough for most rehearsal situations, and you might even use it in some small venues without a mike.

For studio work, too, I feel Vox’ AC10C1 has a lot to offer, because it enables you to get chunky Vox tones with much less bleed-through into other microphones, like the drum mikes.

Jan Merivirta’s J. Leachim Guitars is still a young company, yet it already has managed to gain a reputation among guitarists.

Kitarablogi.com has had the pleasure to test drive two J.L.G.-models – a heavily relic’d S&T-Style, along with a brand-new addition to the lineup, the semiacoustic Royal.

J. Leachim has also started to import Mojotone pickups from the USA, recently – in addition to the Mojotone-equipped review guitars, I received three further instruments carrying Mojotone pickups to try out.

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J. Leachim Guitars have really made a mark with their heavily relic’d guitars and basses. It’s true, you can also order a ”mint” condition instrument from J.L.G., but many players have decided to go for the added mojo of a pre-worn guitar.

The J. Leachim S&T-Style (price approximately 1.600 €; includes a hard case and a custom-made leather strap) is such a mojo machine – a players solidbody electric, that combines a Stratocaster-type body with a Tele-style neck.

The S&T’s neck sports a relic’d satin finish, as well as a classy set of Kluson-style machine heads.

The guitar’s Wilkinson Vintage vibrato looks extremely worn, too.

This bridge is based on a vintage Fender bridge, but it features two practical improvements:

The vibrato arm is push fit with adjustable action, while the vibrato block has the string channels drilled so that they follow the octave compensation, which keeps the string pressure on the saddle uniform across all strings.

S&T-Style uses four vibrato springs for a very positive, muscular vibrato action that managed to stay on the right side of stiff.

The review guitar’s alder body looks like the guitar has been regularly used (and abused) on sweaty club stage for the last 50 years.

The Electrosocket jack receptacle keeps the Telecaster look, while offering much easier access for servicing and repairs that Fender’s original part.

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The J. Leachim Royal (1.600 €; includes hard case and certificate of authenticity) is a step in a new direction for J.L.G. – it’s a thinline semiacoustic guitar.

The body shape owes a lot to the venerable Telecaster, but this isn’t a straight copy, though, as it is built in an involved, multilayered fashion.

The Royal’s one-piece bird’s eye maple neck is a true thing of beauty.

The chunky bridge on the Royal is a quality piece of hardware, but probably not the best choice on this model. The thick base means that the bridge saddles have to adjusted quite low to achieve a comfortable action. This in turn results in the sharpish height-adjustment grub screws protruding quite some way above the top of the saddles. Shorter grub screws would make this guitar more comfortable for the plectrum hand.

The J. Leachim Royal’s body is made in the UK (in Nottingham) by a small company called Bodge Fabrications (pun intended!).

The beautifully sculpted Bodge body is a layered affair made from walnut, maple, and mahogany. If you love nice woods, like I do, this body will sen shivers of delight down your spine.

The back of the body features a rib cage bevel for added carrying comfort.

This guitar is lightweight, and sports a rounded 60s-style Tele neck that feels great. The fret-job is very smooth. This guitar is a fantastic player, and its vibrato works as smoothly as can be expected in a quality instrument in this price range.

This S&T-Style came equipped with a Mojotone Rene Martinez Texas Strat pickup set. Rene Martinez was Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar technician, so it’s no wonder these pickups are specifically tailored to give you SRV-style tones.

The neck and (reverse-wound) middle pickup use Alnico III magnets for a bright sound with a sharp attack and a fantastically dynamic response. The bridge pickup is wound a little hotter and comes loaded with more powerful Alnico V magnets for a more muscular tone.

The Royal is all about the feel and sound of wood. This is a guitar that’s very hard to put down once you’ve picked it up. The semiacoustic body adds a charming vocal quality to this model’s acoustic tone.

This Royal comes with a Mojotone set of humbucker-sized P-90 pickups, which offer you a range of different sounds, from Jazz all the way to gritty Rock.

The neck pickups is built around an Alnico IV magnet, while the slightly hotter bridge pickup comes with an Alnico V magnet: